TIP: If you have a rental car, you can save a chunk of money with the free parking and lower day pass rate here over the Omaha Marriott downtown location. Without a car, I may have been more inclined to the downtown location with it's urban views.
The pool area is a relaxing and pleasant environment and a nice way to spend a hot afternoon. There are urns of complimentary coffee, iced water and refreshing iced water with orange slices at check-in. Fitness Center access was included as part of the pass and, although I didn't use it on this visit it appeared up to Marriott standards. You are issued a key card for entrance to the pool and gym. You also have the option to add a day room for an additional cost. You can order food and drinks through a QR code link to be delivered pool-side. The entrance inside the hotel to the changing rooms, restrooms and pool areas has a nice spa entrance feel and is scented wonderfully. They did a great job here and it really has a nice welcoming effect. Try as I might, though, I could not get the elegant sensor-based faucet in the men's room to release even a single drop of water. Moving on, there is a large indoor pool connected via a swim channel to the outdoor pool. The water is cooler in deeper sections and indoors, so as you move around you will quickly discover the more refreshing areas to cool off in. The poolside chairs were attractive and functional. The outdoor furniture (umbrellas, tables, table-side sitting chairs, large multi-person lounges, poolside loungers and accent pillows were all in great shape and lent an upscale air to an otherwise simple outdoor area. The landscaping is excellent and a huge barrel planter full of gorgeous flowers greets you as you enter the outdoor pool area. , all contributing to the resort feel. There are a few improvements that Omaha Marriott needs to pay attention to address some shabbiness. The wall of glass panes which drops drown to the water's surface and allows kids and adventurous adults to swim between the indoor and outdoor pool SHOULD be an attractive upscale design feature to highlight. It currently is in need of a good cleaning and refreshing. The window panes are all chalky, clouded and dirty looking. The frame and and concrete section at the bottom should be freshened up and the area will look a lot sharper. I suspect just cleaning the glass frequently will be a vast improvement. Likewise, the pool deck has large areas that have been repaired and color-matched, but not repaired invisibly with texture matching. Furthermore there are a couple new areas of the pool deck that are crumbling and require similar fill and smoothing. The result is a still functional pool deck but the appearance creates a sense sort of like when you walk on an asphalt parking lot that has large visible repaired sections and some newly deteriorating areas. It's shabby. Similarly, the tile pool coping is showing it's age in a few areas, especially around transitions to other surfaces and the pool filter skimmer boxes mounted in the coping. It was a good sign that an automatic pool cleaner robot was moving itself around the pool part of the day that I was there, but the water definitely should have been cleaner. Quite a bit of leaf debris was present in the pool and enough dead gnats and detritus on the surface that I was careful to keep my eyes and mouth closed when breaking the surface. Don't read too much into this - I and the other guests weren't repelled by the water and still enjoyed dips, but it was noticeable and I have long felt one of the key indicators of whether a hotel with an outdoor pool is a tightly run ship is by the cleanliness of the pool water. They should clean it more thoroughly so a Marriott guest does not even have the thought cross their mind that the water is "kinda dirty". My last criticism is that the wicker towel stand outdoors is deteriorating in the one spot staff would grab at it to pull the towel basket open and retrieve used towels. Again, shabby is the relevant word. None of this prevented the enjoyment of the facility and overall I rate it highly for providing a peaceful and enjoyable day of relaxation. I feel Marriott has taken a sensible approach to an aging outdoor area and maintained the areas like the pool deck that eventually will need a more expensive resurfacing. They just need to patch the newly deteriorating deck areas. A cleaning and refreshing of the windowed wall transitioning from outdoor to indoor pool would be a welcome and reasonable investment as it could easily be an attractive design element instead of an eyesore.
In a nutshell, my overall impression is the Omaha Marriott provides a nice, comfortable space to relax and cool off in, and with a few details spruced up would truly live up to the "wonderful" rating of other reviewers on ResortPass. I would definitely return!
